Monday, January 19, 2009

Finding Your Chicago Ancestors by Grace DuMelle

Greetings friends! This is absolutely one of my favorite books on genealogy. It has helped me find the answers to many of the questions I have had regarding my family history. My Polish and German ancestors immigrated to the Chicago area after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and looking for any information about them can be challenging.

This book is particularly beneficial to the beginner who has the desire to discover who their ancestors were but may not understand how to go about obtaining the information they seek. In this book, you will find easy step by step directions on how to begin looking for answers to your genealogical questions. Where do I start? Who were my ancestors' parents? Where did they live? When did they marry? How many children did they have? When did they die and where are they buried? This book can steer you in the right direction to discover the answers to many of those questions.

You will learn how to use the federal census records to find where your ancestors lived and what they did for a living. Vital records provide information on marriages, births, and deaths. The author, Grace DuMelle tells you what resources are here in Chicago to help you get a copy of those important records. Church records, city directories, social security applications, divorce records, probate, and naturalization records are also discussed. Again, resources are listed in the book to help you obtain the records for your particular ancestor.

Grace DuMelle, the author, focuses clearly on resources available here in the Chicago area for your Chicago ancestors. Using nearby research facilities such as the National Archives and Records Administration, Family History Centers, Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) center, Cook County resources and genealogical libraries is also discussed in detail. Because we all can't easily get to a specific research facility, information is also listed regarding where to write for help in answering many of your questions.

I found this book a "must have," so I went out and bought it. It has provided me with many avenues to search for the answers to my genealogy questions. You don't have to visit your local bookstore because Finding Your Chicago Ancestors is available here at the New Lenox Public Library. The call number is 929.1 DUM. Happy hunting!

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